Defying the Facts
by Keisuke Cloudberry
Summary: Why does fate keep on bringing them together? They don't even like it, they're different. Is it because they're defying the facts? Or is it because they're really meant for each other?
1. Cake

**Title:** Defying the Facts

**Pairing**: Marui/Ann

**Disclaimer: **I do not own PoT, happy?

**Summary**: Never did Ann thought of giving the cake she had just bought for her brother to anyone until a certain redhead from the school Rikkai forces her to do so, resulting to weird mishaps and unfortunately, crushes. For Shurikan0

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**_Fact no 1: When it comes to sweets, always be reminded that a certain bubblegum crazed boy named Marui Bunta is there to devour them for you…_**

Ann just got out of a certain bakeshop, where she bought a strawberry cake for her brother. Her brother, Kippei will be arriving from a tennis camp and it had been long since she last saw him. Now that he had returned, she decided to get something for him. Strawberry cake, her brother's favorite. She carried the bantam box as she walked through the nearby park, also one way home and a place to hang out and a place to have some time alone. She always passes by that peaceful park on her way home and she always stops by to play on the creaky swings. Nobody ever goes to that certain place; no child ever goes there to play. It was deserted, quiet and rather tranquil. She enjoyed her every visit there; it gave her time to think, time of peace. But somehow, it would be different today, because someone, someone unfamiliar had intruded her place of quiet and serenity. She paused and looked at that particular someone before she could even enter the place.

"Nggggh… Where is that stupid Niou?" The whiny voice asked and it came from some redhead. "I'm totally lost! And I'm hungry!" The person continued as he wandered around the park. Ann stared even more.

The said person had an impatient look on his face. Ann assumed that he was looking for someone and had been looking for that individual for quite a long time. She sighed. She didn't want to get involve on other's problems so she decided to leave the spot. But before she could take her turn to leave, the redhead called out on her.

"Hey you!" He shouted, trying to get her attention. She raised her brows on him and pointed herself, asking if she was the one he called on. The guy nodded and blew a bubble from the gum he chewed. "Yeah, you with the messy hair! Will you come here for a second?" The person shouted again. Ann twitched at his remark before she approached him.

"Do you know where this place is?" He asked and pulled a piece of paper out of his left pocket and handed it too her. She got the paper and read it.

"Oh…It's located at the second street on your left." She said and pointed at the street she was talking about.

"Really? Just there?" He asked and looked where she was pointing. She nodded and he smiled at her. "Thanks, messy hair!"

"Will you please stop calling me _messy hair_?" She told him but he kept on eyeing the street and made steps little by little near it. "Hey,"

"Well, it's true… It keeps on going to your face." He finally spoke and eyed her. Then he noticed the box she was holding: a cake box. His eyes sparkled with joy.

"Even though. Just because I'm not wearing my clip on, doesn't mean that it always goes to my face. And besides, the wind—" She stopped when she noticed that he wasn't paying any attention at what she was saying at all. Then he suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, is that cake?" He asked, his eyes still gleaming with delight. Ann looked at him oddly as she saw him smiling at the torte she was holding. Then he asked again. "Is that cake?"

"Yeah, so?" She replied. His smile even grew wider as he came closer to her. "What?"

"Can I have it?" He pleaded. Ann sweatdropped and shook her head a 'no'. He pouted at her. "Please? I'm really hungry. I haven't eaten since eight in the morning." He informed her.

"But it's only been two hours." She answered. "And it's not for you, it's for my bro."

"Can you just give me a piece? Please?" He pleaded even more.

"You know what, I have to go." Ann said and turned around to leave. But before she could take a step, he tugged her shirt to stop her from walking. She looked at him. "I really have to go home now." She said and started walking again. He just followed her.

"Will you stop following me?" She said without looking at him and continued walking. "I'm not giving this to you no matter what."

"Why not?" He asked and blew another bubble from his gum.

"Because…It's not for you." She told him and still continued walking. "And besides, I don't even know who you are." She told him again but did not bother to look at him.

"Then I'm Marui Bunta, will you give it to me now?" He pleaded and blew a bubble yet again. She paused. That was a familiar name: Marui. She finally turned to look at him.

"Marui Bun—?"

"Ahhhh!"

* * *

_**Fact no. 2: When gum gets stuck on your hair, don't try to remove it yourself. Always remember that there are haircutters to do that for you.**_

An irritated Ann sat on one of the seats of the salon. She entered the place about ten minutes ago. Now, she was about to let the haircutters cut her beautiful, brown hair and the reason was none other than Marui Bunta.

The time that Ann turned around to look at him, Marui was too close behind her that the bubble that he blew from his gum had gone stuck on the ends of her hair. It was quite sticky so Ann tried to remove it quick. She was successful on doing so but Marui made it worse. He spit the gum out (because of panic) and it landed on her side hair. They both panicked and tried to remove it but it only spread more. Ann let out an irritated sigh and stopped Marui from trying to remove the gum on her hair. She walked away and Marui followed her, apologizing again and again. Then he suggested that she should go to a hair salon to remove the gum or cut the hair. He even offered to accompany her there but she did not want to get herself involve with him again so she declined. But the boy was persistent and wouldn't leave her so he dragged her to the salon himself. And that's how she ended up at the hair salon.

Ann glanced at Marui who was seated on one of the chairs and reading a magazine. She gave him a small glare. Marui noticed her and looked at her. He gave Ann a peace sign and mouthed sorry before he looked at the magazine again. Ann sighed.

"Ma'am, how should I cut your hair? Layered perhaps?" The haircutter asked. Ann thought for a moment, then she decided.

"Umm no, just trim the part where there's gum." Said Ann. Good thing it was only the tips that got gum on it or else she would have to cut her hair really short.

"Hey, why don't you get your hair banged?" Marui suddenly suggested.

"Bangs?" Ann raised a brow. "No way, that's too annoying for me to handle."

"But it would look good on you! I guarantee it. I'm a tensai after all." Said Marui, rather proudly. Ann sighed and gave him another glare. Marui blinked innocently.

"And wasn't a tensai like you supposed to go somewhere away from me?" She shot at him. Marui pouted.

"I'm not playing your glare game. And I'm serious about the bangs." Said Marui a little bit serious, also ignoring the question.

"That's a rather fine idea Ma'am. Bangs would totally look good on you." The haircutter said and smiled. "Your boyfriend has good taste."

Ann frowned at the girl. "He's not my boyfriend. Fortunately." She said. Marui glared at her.

"Heeey…Why'd you say fortunately?" Marui intrigued. "You'd be so lucky if you were my girlfriend."

"And I thought you weren't gonna play my glare game…" Ann smirked. Marui rolled his eyes. "No one would be lucky if their boyfriend is some arrogant sugar-crazed boy like you."

The haircutter smiled at the fighting teens. It's somehow amusing to look at them, having petty fights like that. "So, let us cut your hair banged as your boyfriend suggested, ne?"

"He will never, I repeat, NEVER be my boyfriend." Ann stated. Marui eyed her then looked at the haircutter.

"Cut it that way. I know better." Said Marui, crossing his arms and looking away.

"No." Said Ann, automatically. The haircutter smiled at them again.

"Let's follow your boyfriend's suggestions, madam." She said. "I'm sure that it would look really good on you."

Ann gave up, looking at the two rather persistent individuals. She knew that they wouldn't stop until she agrees. She sighed again. "Fine." The other two smiled.

* * *

_**Fact no. 3: Agreeing to let Marui treat you cake after he gave you so much trouble won't be such a bad idea. **_

Marui and Ann went out of the salon. Marui gave Ann a cheeky grin and Ann she only closed her eyes and kept on walking. Marui then suddenly grabbed her hands and handed her something soft. Ann opened her eyes in surprise and looked at what he gave her.

It was a long lace of ribbon, colored with the shade of red. Like the color of a beautiful crimson rose. It was really silky and soft and Ann was totally amazed by it. It would really match her hair, if she would wear it. And it would be far more graceful and attractive than wearing a simple clip. Ann then directed her gaze at Marui.

"The girl from the salon gave it to me a while ago." Marui explained. "I just thought that you should wear that so things like this won't happen to you again."

"Thank you." Ann muttered. "I never thought that you could be sweet." She said and pocketed the ribbon.

"Well, tensais can do anything after all." Marui smirked. Ann rolled her eyes.

'Sweet yet arrogant…'

"Ne Tachibana, will you give me the cake now?" Marui suddenly asked. A vein popped on her head.

"First, you put gum on my hair. Then you asked me to cut my hair with the style you want and you still want me to give the cake to you?" Ann twitched.

"Hey, hey. Take it easy. I was only kidding!" Marui laughed at the fuming girl. "I was just wondering if you would like to eat cake with me, since, you know…I got you into a lot of trouble."

"Well, if it's your treat." Ann said and Marui smiled at her. "Okay."

"Great!" Marui exclaimed as he dragged Ann. "Now, where's the bakeshop?"

Ann sweatdropped. "So, that's why you invited me…You don't know where it is, don't you?"

"No clue." Answered Marui. "Now come on! I'm starving!"

Ann laughed at him and Marui pouted. She patted his head and pointed at the direction of the bakeshop, still laughing. Marui also laughed and dragged her towards the direction she was pointing. Ann followed him and smiled. Soon, Marui would remember that he had forgotten to meet up with Niou at the Sports shop they agreed to meet each other. But the heck, it would be more fun to eat cake with a girl whom you had just caused trouble on then talking about what are the plans for the next tennis tournament they're gonna join.

_**Fact no. 4: Marui likes girls with ribbons.**_

OWARI

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**A/N:** So how was it? Tell me and leave a review! This is for Shurikan0, who also made me a Maru/An fic: Sweet. This will be my thanks for that awesome fic she wrote for me and I hope this would be good enough… T.T I hope you enjoyed this one and inspired you to make more fics about them! Spread the MaruAn (KiriAn) love! Yay! Thank you for reading! Oh, and for those who have read my other fic, Of Clips and Ribbons (KiriAnMarui), I will be updating maybe tomorrow. Sorry for the super late update! Gomen, gomen. Again, thank you for reading!


	2. Rain

**Title**: Defying the Facts, All Over Again

**Disclaimer**: The day I own Prince of Tennis is the day I die XD Okay, I want to die.

**A/N**: Nya? A sequel, you ask? Well, I decided to continue this and be happy! Yay for boredom! Read and err…review! Enjoy, da ne!

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**_Fact no. 5: Ann Tachibana hates the rain._**

Ann Tachibana hastily packed her things up and ran away from the tennis courts. Hanging out on the courts alone in a bad weather wasn't such a great idea after all. The sky was dark and she was aware of it. She just had to be Ann Tachibana and be oh so stubborn and insist on staying there.

She was so unlucky.

The rain had begun to pour already. She was getting really wet. Droplets of water continued dripping from her hair as she ran to find shelter. She almost even slipped while running down the stairs. It irritated her. The rain was turning into a downpour. And she was soaked.

She ran down a slope. It was weird. Why was she the only one there? It was only six in the afternoon…Was her weather senses that bad that all predicted that a downpour will be happening to be the only one getting soaked in the rain? She didn't even bring an umbrella. Oh the joy.

While running down, she spotted a small booth at the end of the slope. It was sort of foggy so everything seemed obscure. She narrowed her eyes and spotted the sign that read: Telephone booth. Lucky! She could use that as shelter. A small smile appeared on her face as she neared the place. Finally, somewhere to dry up and rest from running! Good thing such a booth was there to—

"Talk about being unlucky…The gods really do hate me." She whined as she slowly stopped from running. She stared at her supposed 'sanctuary'.

There was already someone in there. And she was already tired of running.

Someone whom had caused her trouble. A certain gum-crazed boy who put gum on her precious hair and made her pay for a certain blueberry cheesecake. Him. Yeah, him.

* * *

**_Fact no 6: Marui Bunta hates the rain._**

"What do you mean you're leaving me here?" He shouted on the phone. "I don't even know how to go back to Kanagawa! Hey!"

"_It's your fault that you ran away to find sweets. We're going home."_

"Hey, wait! Niou! Don't leave me here!" He shouted again, stomping as he gripped on the phone harder.

"_Where are you then?"_

"Umm…" He paused and looked around. As he did so, he noticed a figure outside from where he was. Was that a girl? And was she stomping? Remembering that his friend was talking to him, he disregarded his thought on the figure and answered, "I'm at a telephone booth. Somewhere near a slope and it's kinda abandoned…I'm alone here."

"_Very helpful information…That's great…bye."_

"Niou! It's raining! I don't even have an umbrella with me."

"_I'm kidding. I'll try to find you. Later."_

"You'd better." Marui grunted and hung the phone. He leaned on the glass wall and waited for his friend, Niou to find him.

He sighed. Why did he have to run away from the others and find some cake?

* * *

**_Fact no. 7: Marui Bunta is an insignificant, uncaring maggot…with a gum_**

"What's taking him so long?" Marui Bunta whined as he tapped the floor continuously. "Five minutes is long enough! It's getting colder here." He began to shiver.

He stared out the glass wall and remembered what he saw a while ago. He blinked, then opened the door a bit and looked for it. Marui spotted her. She was soaked, he can see that.

"Hey!" He called out to her. She turned to look at him and frowned. He blinked again and realized who she was…Ann Tachibana.

"You…" He muttered and paused. He remembered her, she was the one who treated him cake some time ago. She was the one whom he insisted to cut her hair the way he liked. He snapped out of his thoughts and called out to her again. "Hey, are you gonna stay there forever or are you going in here?"

"Why would you care?" Ann shot at him and tried to ignore him. "I'm fine."

He snorted a bit, then sighed exasperatedly. He then went outside and grabbed her wrist. Then dragged her inside the booth.

"You're soaking wet." Marui said as he observed her. Ann smirked.

She looked away and replied, "Gee, I wonder why?"

"Che, you're pretty sarcastic." He said and looked away as well.

"Oh am I?"

"Whatever. Here." Marui said as he removed his jacket and handed it to Ann. She looked at him with a puzzled look. "Wear it. Your shirt is too wet and you look cold."

"No thanks." She refused and squeezed her hair, removing the water from it.

"Just wear it, okay?" Marui chastised and placed the jacket on her. Ann looked at him seriously.

"This'll sure help me a lot. It's not wet and heavy." Ann rolled her eyes. Marui felt a nerve pop on his head.

"Don't you even know how to say thanks?" Marui mumbled and turned away, not bothering to receive an answer.

They ignored each other for a few good minutes and tried to busy themselves. Ann tried to dry her shirt and hair while Marui drew on the glass. It wasn't quite spacey so they kept on bumping on each other.

"You still owe me money you know. That cake was expensive." Ann suddenly said as she continued drying herself. "And you said that you'll be the one to pay for it."

"Well…it's because I ran out of money." Marui excused. She rolled her eyes.

"And you ran away." She spoke and eyed him. "You left me to pay for it."

"Because I saw my friend." Marui answered. "Then, I'm sorry."

It became silent once more…

"Why are you here anyway?" This time Marui was the one to break the silence.

"I should be the one asking you." Ann replied. "You guys keep on going here in Tokyo nowadays."

"Well, it's bec—"

"Oh, let me guess. It's your friend's fault that you're here. And you accidentally got lost because you were searching for something to eat."

"Actually, that's what happened." Marui told her. She slapped her forehead.

"It's only been at least two months since I last saw you and now you're in front of me again." Ann said.

"That is where you are wrong. It'd been two and a half months since then." Marui said and smirked. Ann sighed.

"You still remember, huh." Ann muttered and stared outside.

"How could I forget?" Marui laughed a bit. "It was the first time I put a gum on a girl's hair."

"Really now?" She rolled her eyes.

To Marui, it seemed like Ann Tachibana was an uncaring person and he found it rather challenging to make her smile.

* * *

**_Fact no 8: Marui Bunta and Ann Tachibana are very observant persons._**

Marui stared at her. "Hey…"

"What?" Ann grunted and turned to him, rather annoyed.

"Your hair. It's like your old one again."

"Oh. It's because it was annoying." Ann answered. "I told you I didn't really like bangs."

"And you're wearing that." Marui added. Ann's face turned a little bit red.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I wore this ribbon because I had no clips on today. And I found this on my bag." She said and touched the ribbon. "You're pretty observant, huh."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Marui grinned. Ann smirked again.

"You're not chewing on gum today, I noticed." Ann told him.

"I ran out of it a while ago…" Marui told her. "You're pretty observant as well."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Ann smiled. They started to laugh.

"Good thing the sun shone again." Marui suddenly said out of the blue when Ann smiled. Ann arched an eyebrow at the boy.

"What are you talking about? It's nighttime." Ann asked. Marui shrugged and laughed at her clueless gesture. "You Kanagawa people are weird."

"Oh, really?"

They now found themselves laughing at each other and having nice talks. Their conversation was really good, even better than they had with their other friends. Marui was sure amused at how Ann talked, her finger always raised up high as if she was making important points. And Ann, she sure was entertained at how Marui nodded every time she spoke. She also found his laugh rather contagious because when he did so, she'd laugh as well.

They hadn't noticed that the rain had already stopped pouring a long time ago. Observant indeed.

* * *

_**Fact no 9: Ann never owed anything to anyone.** _

"Hey, it stopped raining already." Ann looked outside and found that the rain had already weakened.

They then looked at each other and realized how close they were. Both stared at each other's eyes.

"Umm…You know what, I've got to go." Ann hesitantly said. "I think my brother's looking for me."

"Is that so?" Marui asked and scratched his head. He opened the door and stepped outside, Ann following him. "I'll see you then."

"I think…It was nice seeing you again." Ann said and smiled warmly at him. Marui nodded. She giggled.

Marui waved his hand goodbye and started to walk away. Ann watched him go and suddenly felt a heavy weight on her shoulder. It was the jacket.

"Ah! Marui-san, wait!" Ann called out. Marui turned to her. "Your jacket!"

"Return that to me when you have strawberry ice cream with you!" He shouted and continued walking.

"Strawberry?" Ann muttered.

* * *

"So…alone, huh?" Niou grinned as he looked at his friend, who was seated in front of him on the train. They were on their way home to Kanagawa. "Who's she?"

"What?" Marui asked him innocently. He put up a thoughtful look on his face, trying to figure out what his friend was saying. "Ah…her?"

"Yep, I saw you two on the booth a while ago." Niou said. "So, what's her name?"

"S.S." Marui smirked. Niou looked confused.

"What kind of name was that?" He asked. Marui shrugged.

"The name of an idiotic sarcastic girl."

"And where's your jacket?" Niou asked knowingly. Marui smirked again.

"I left it on the sun." Marui smiled and looked out the window.

"You're insane." Niou concluded.

**_Fact no. 10: The sun can never be sarcastic. Well, maybe except Marui's new found sun._**

* * *

**A/N:** This fic will now be a series of one-shots of how Marui and Ann got close to each other and became friends…or even more than that. XD Kya! Please review! –being random again-


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